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Cal 20

Jensen Marine · 1961–1975 · Sloop rig

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LOA20'

Beam7'

Draft3.33'

Displ.1.0t

Rigsloop

HullFiberglass

Bluewater Evidence · Bluewater Capable

52% confidence

Doc.Documented CapableBluewater Capable ProvenOcean Proven

John Vigor includes the Cal 20 in Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere. It was designed and marketed as an entry-level daysailer and one-design club racer, and its capsize screen value (2.24) is above the usual offshore limit of 2. Good Old Boat's Vigor article reports that Kun Poi Chin sailed his Cal 20 Chalupa from San Francisco to Hawaii in the early 1980s in 20 days, through six days and nights of gales, and that George Cadwalader and Duncan Spencer crossed the North Atlantic in one from Newport, Rhode Island, to Crookhaven, Ireland.

Overview

The Cal 20 is C. William Lapworth’s 1961 design for Jensen Marine, one of the most popular small production sailboats of its era with nearly 1,945 hulls built through 1975 (Jensen Marine in the US, Calgan Marine under license in Canada). It remains a well-known one-design racing class today.

Design and Construction

At just under 2,000 lb displacement with a fractional sloop rig, the Cal 20 carries a fin keel and transom-hung rudder, a fast, light platform built for daysailing and club racing rather than passage-making. Sail area is modest for the boat’s size, favoring simplicity and affordability over raw performance.

Under Sail

Kun Poi Chin sailed his Cal 20, Chalupa, from San Francisco to Hawaii in the early 1980s, a 20-day trip with six days and nights of gales, then cruised more than 1,000 miles among the islands. George Cadwalader and Duncan Spencer crossed the North Atlantic in one, from Newport, Rhode Island, to Crookhaven, Ireland. The Cal 20 is described in sailing forums as an entry-level daysailer and club racer, and while owners occasionally discuss small-boat ocean crossings in the abstract, the type is mentioned in that context as a comparison point against boats genuinely built for offshore work, not as an example of one.

Buyers Notes

As with most fiberglass boats of this vintage, deck coring, chainplates, and rigging age are worth a close look on survey. Given the real disclosed conflict between sources on ballast weight, confirming a specific hull’s actual ballast and stability characteristics directly, rather than assuming a published figure, is a reasonable extra step for this model.

Passage records

Black Feathers· Robert Crawford2008

2008 Singlehanded TransPac, San Francisco to Hawaii (solo)

Finished; elapsed 19d 21:49:15, corrected 13d 03:17:15.

Source: Singlehanded Transpac Race Results 1978-2021 (Singlehanded Sailing Society)

Recommended In

Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere- John Vigor, 1999View on Amazon →

As an Amazon Associate, PassageBoats earns from qualifying purchases.

Documented repairs and system-specific fixes reported for the Cal 20, drawn from known-issue write-ups and video transcripts.

Repairs Documented on Video

⚙ keel
The owner strips the paint from a rusty keel with a citrus stripping gel under plastic overnight instead of sanding, then rates it four out of five. Under the paint he found a layer of fiberglass mat, apparently glassed over at some point, with some of it compromised. He plans to leave it, repair the exposed bare metal and apply bottom paint.
Sailing Channel
Removing paint from the keel of Cal 20 sailboat with non-toxic gel without sanding.
▶ watch at 0:01

What sailing channels say about the Cal 20, quoted from video transcripts with a link to the exact moment. Opinions belong to the speakers; the written review above stays independent of them.

discusses
The narrator says the Cal 20 carried 900 lb of ballast under a boat that weighed under a ton, and calls her fast, stiff, and forgiving of beginners.
Heel & Hull
The Fascinating Story of the Cal 20: The Tiny Sailboat That Raised a Whole Generation
▶ watch at 4:00

repairs⚙ keel
The owner strips the paint from a rusty keel with a citrus stripping gel under plastic overnight instead of sanding, then rates it four out of five. Under the paint he found a layer of fiberglass mat, apparently glassed over at some point, with some of it compromised. He plans to leave it, repair the exposed bare metal and apply bottom paint.
Sailing Channel
Removing paint from the keel of Cal 20 sailboat with non-toxic gel without sanding.
▶ watch at 0:01

4:00

The Fascinating Story of the Cal 20: The Tiny Sailboat That Raised a Whole Generation

Heel & Hull

The narrator says the Cal 20 carried 900 lb of ballast under a boat that weighed under a ton, and calls her fast, stiff, and forgiving of beginners.

Removing paint from the keel of Cal 20 sailboat with non-toxic gel without sanding.

0:01

Repair · keel

Removing paint from the keel of Cal 20 sailboat with non-toxic gel without sanding.

Sailing Channel

The owner strips the paint from a rusty keel with a citrus stripping gel under plastic overnight instead of sanding, then rates it four out of five. Under the paint he found a layer of fiberglass mat, apparently glassed over at some point, with some of it compromised. He plans to leave it, repair the exposed bare metal and apply bottom paint.

[1]MagazineGood Old Boat, The Cal 20: A pocket cruiser that also suits the pocket- Kun Poi Chin sailed his Cal 20, Chalupa, from San Francisco to Hawaii in the early 1980s.
[2]EditorialPractical Sailor review quoted on Wikipedia: Cal 20 (Steve Henkel, 2010)- Ballast attachment: "The keel (made of iron, which rusts), keel bolts, and surrounding fiberglass are common causes of concern."
[3]SpecificationsCAL 20 - SailboatData.com- Dimensions, displacement, ballast, sail area, hull count (1,945), production dates.
[4]EditorialSinglehanded Transpac Race Results 1978-2021 (Singlehanded Sailing Society)- Consolidated monohull results list Robert Crawford's Cal 20 Black Feathers, 2008, elapsed 19:21:49:15.